Vehicle for the transport of a rotating mixer or the like

ABSTRACT

This is a foldable conveyor having means for locking the same into extended positioning, particularly adaptable to concrete mixers and the like.

United States Patent Lionello Rossi Km. 16,500 via Tiburtina, Roma,Italy 865,027

Oct. 9, 1969 Oct. 5, 1971 lnventor Appl. No. Filed Patented VEHICLE FORTHE TRANSPORT OF A ROTATING MIXER OR THE LIKE 4 Claims, 9 Drawing Figs.

U.S.Cl 198/113, 198/1 17 Int. Cl ..B65g 21/12, B65g 41/00 [50] Field ofSearch 198/87-89, 113-] I5, H8; 214/8326 [56] References Cited UNITEDSTATES PATENTS 3,521,767 7/1970 Rossi 2l4/83.26

Primary ExaminerEdward A. Sroka Attorney-J. Gibson Semmes ABSTRACT: Thisis a foldable conveyor having means for locking the same into extendedpositioning, particularly adaptable to concrete mixers and the like.

VEHICLE FOR THE TRANSPORT OF A ROTATING MIXER OR THE LIKECROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This is an improvement of theinvention defined in U.S. Pat. No. 3,521,767 issued July 28, 1970 andentitled VEHICLE FOR THE TRANSPORT OF A ROTATING MIXER, OR THE LIKE.PROVIDED WITH CONTINUOUS CON- VEYOR, Lionello Rossi, inventor.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In U.S. Pat. No. 3,521,767,aforesaid, provision has been made for a conveyor for the transport ofloose materials or mixtures, said conveyor adapted to mounting onvehicles car rying a rotating mixer and being divided into a pluralityof Iongitudinal sections, articulated as to each other and at least inpart extendible and of a foldable type, means being provided for movingsaid conveyor sections to occupy very little space and to cause them tobe moved outward in a fully operative extended working condition. Thepresent invention is adapted to improve the system defined by said U.S.Pat. No. 3,521,767 wherein a combination of devices associated with theconveyor ensures a greater compactness of unit, while at the same timeallowing more readiness, reliability and efficiency of operation.

Referring to the drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrates the top of a partial first section of the conveyorand of the other two sections folded, the sections being adapted totravel along a slide channel arranged in the frame of the vehicle; 7

FIG. 2 is a side view of a portion of the conveyor in its foldedposition as it occupies the minimum space, reference. stand stillposition of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows the front view of the conveyor in the folded position ofFIG. 1, taken along the lines F-F of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 shows a side view of the carriage for dragging the first sectionof the conveyor and of the locking system associated therewith;

FIG. 5 is a schematic top plan view of the FIG. 4 carriage and itshousing;

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal fragmental side view of the FIG. 5 device,

FIGS. 70 and 7b illustrate the FIG. 6 operation of locking lever takenalong the lines C-C of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a side view of the conveyor support with parts removed. I

For clarity reference numerals in all of the drawings indicate new orimproved elements are numbered at 200 and above, while the lowernumerical designations indicate parts which have been disclosed in U.S.Pat. No. 3,521,767, aforesaid.

According to the present invention, a single casing 204 is located abovethe longitudinal slide channel 18, the channel being provided to houseextendible section 7 of the conveyor and the casing 204 being providedto house the two grooved drums around which will be wound the tractioncables 29 and 34, the traveling of said section along said channel 18occurring simultaneously as cable 29 is unrolling and beingproportionated with the length of the unrolled cable. For betterutilization of the conveyor, provision has been made to use a pulley 31having a movable and swinging arrangement, said pulley being mounted atthe top of framework 42, an integral part of the vehicle whereby itssupporting member is connected to framework 42 by means of a hinge 31a,the pivot axis of which is horizontal and parallel to the longitudinalcenter vertical plane of the vehicle; thereby allowing the conveyor tobe easily turned about a vertical axis through an angle of 90 inrelation to said vertical longitudinal center plane of vehicle I.

The support 201 supports motor 202, the control devices 203 and thecasing 204 housing the grooved drums 33 and 39, as well as the drivingpulley 36a of cable 34. By means of a hook the cable drags the section 7slidingly along said channel I8.

framework Cable 34 instead of traveling into the gap formed between themud guard panel of the vehicle where the mixer is mounted and the lowerpart of channel 18, travels freely parallel to said channel 18 and aboveit, whereby cable 34 does not bear against the mud guard. Of course,provision must be made to mount the pulley 3511 (reference FIG. 6) onpost 205 at a height sufficient to allow it to operate in asubstantially horizontal plane. Hydraulic jack 206 is mounted on thecarriage 21, said jack causing rotary movement of the conveyor about avertical axis, passing through the pivot 22 of the hingeconnectingsection 7 and the carriage 21 in combination with a second hinge 299,the axisof which is horizontal and set at a right angle with respect tothe path direction of carriage 2L The jack 206 is eccentricallypositioned'relative to pivot 22 and acts on plate 72, said plate beingintegral with one of the parts of the hinge 299, so as to force section7 together with other sections 8 and 9 of the conveyor, while aligned torotate about the axis 22 through an angle of 90 towards the outer sideof the housing 18, said position of plate 72 being shown in phantomlines in FIG. 5. Y i 9 The prior art system represented by U.S. Pat. No.3,521,767 required a substantial amount of skill and diligence on theoperator in dragging the carriage 21 to'specified arrest position beforefolding and unfolding the respective sections 7, 8 and 9, and performingrotary movement of the conveyor about the vertical axis."I'o overcomethe inconvenience, an improved locking system is provided herein,preventing .carriage 21 from an undesired return to housing l8, and toprevent any swinging movement towards the left or the right of theconveyor as the folding and unfoldingphases take place. Reference FIG 4,there is provided a vertical plate 210 which is connected to a controlarm 210a projecting sidewards; said plate 210 being pivotally connectedto a lever 2l3, pivoted at 220 to the frame of the carriage 2]. Theplate 2l0 as well as the control arm 210a have two operative positions,namely a lower position, where plate 211, which may rotate about itssupporting pin 212, acts on said arm 210a and holds it in said lowerposition together with the plate 2I0. There is also an upper position;which the control arm 2I0a can attain only as the plate 211 has beenmanually swung away from its stand still position,- permitting the arm210a and the plate 2I0 to be moved manually upwards and locked in theirrespective upper positions. As the plate 210 and the arm 210a may be intheir lower positions, the lever 213 connected thereto is so positionedthat apin 214 extending upwardly from its free end is engaged within ahole 293 of the carriage frame, which is in register with a hole 294arranged in the plate 72, only as section 7 may be exactly aligned withthe carriage 2I. Therefore, the control arm 210a and the plate 210 canattain said lower position only when the carriage 21 and the section 7are aligned, namely as the conveyor is arranged to be moved so as tocause the section 7 to come into or out of the housing [8.

On the contrary, at the upper position, as the pin 214 is disengagedfrom the holes 293, 294 and the plate 210 is in its upraised position,its upper edge 210 projects upwards and forms a stopping means abuttingagainst the facing edge of the plate 211 or other part of the frame 2.The carriage 2] then may not be moved with respect to channel 18.

As soon as the carriage has been urged wholly out of the channel 18 andthe lever 210 has been manually moved upwards, said lever causes theplate edge 210' to project upwards into contact with the outer surface20I or other abutting means dulypositioned so as to prevent the slidecarriage 21 from returning into the housing I8. At the same time,pressure transmitted. manually to the arm 210a causes the pin 214 to belowered by means of the member 213 to which the plate 210 is connected.Said pin 214 will allow the plate 72. as well as the whole conveyor, tobecome free, the conveyor now being entirely positioned out of thecasing 18 to now perform any rotary movement through angles of even 90toward left or right as desired. When it is desired to fold the conveyorto its standstill position, the section is no more allowed to enteragain into said channel 18 before the whole conveyor is set an an angleof l in relation to the slide cage securely connected to the vehicle.Only in this position can the pin 214 enter the hole duly disposed inthe side plate which is connected to the rear end of the section 7, thusenabling the plate 210 to be lowered to its standstill position where itis locked by plate 211. This locking system will operate only ascarriage 21 has been wholly extended from the channel whereby it may belocked at the end of its travel during the exit phase by means of anenlarged portion of the cable 34, said enlarged portion 296 beingconstituted of a pin inserted at a predetermined position along saidcable.

Since concentric holes are provided in the body of the plate 210 as wellas into the wall 215 of supporting member 216, said member being ofC-shaped horizontal cross section, the cable is adapted to slide freelywithin to its arresting point. Holes 297 and 298 respectively arealigned only when control arm 210a and the plate 210 are in their upperoperative position. Accordingly, the enlarged portion 296 of the cable34 can freely pass throughout said holes. In such a manner the slidecarriage 2! of the section 7 can no more move forward under the effectof forward driving. I

I claim:

l. A conveyor for mixtures or loose materials of fluid consistency,adapted to motor vehicles for the transport of rotating mixers,characterized by operable movement of extendible-retractible conveyorsections the same being mounted on the frame of the vehicle for movementto and from a housing channel comprising:

A. a single casing disposed above a slide channel whereupon are mounted;

B. at least two grooved drums to wind and unwind a cable which isadapted to support and shift the conveyor;

C. a third drum to wind the cable in drawing said sections out of thehousing on the vehicle, all said drums being driven by;

D. a single motor;

E. a framework for carrying and raising the cable which draws saidsections of the conveyor, said framework being so arranged as to compelsaid cable to move along its substantially horizontal plane parallel toand spaced apart from the slide channel, and positioned above it; and

F means for locking the slide carriage in at least one of the two andpositions of travel thereof.

2. A conveyor according to claim I, wherein the locking means for theslide carriage comprise a lever provided for manual operation andadapted to cause said locking means to move upward for engagement withabutting means, and a lever system controlled by said manually operatedlever engaging a pin-plate fixed to the rear end of the slidable sectionof the conveyor so that the entire conveyor may be turned through anangle of said traction cable having an enlarged portion adapted to abutagainst a restricted area formed in combination by two concentric holes,one of said holes being arranged in the body of the locking lever andthe other into a wall supporting said locking lever.

3. The conveyor of claim 1, further comprising a movable pulley adaptedto provide swinging movements of said conveyor, said pulley passing acable for carrying and raising the conveyor to turn through anglesincluding 90 4. The conveyor of claim 5, including hydraulic jack meansinterconnected with the outer sections of said conveyor whereby itseccentric positioning permits while said outer sections may be alignedthe rotation thereof about an angle of 90.

1. A conveyor for mixtures or loose materials of fluid consistency,adapted to motor vehicles for the transport of rotating mixers,characterized by operable movement of extendible-retractible conveyorsections the same being mounted on the frame of the vehicle for movementto and from a housing channel comprising: A. a single casing disposedabove a slide channel whereupon are mounted; B. at least two grooveddrums to wind and unwind a cable which is adapted to support and shiftthe conveyor; C. a third drum to wind the cable in drawing said sectionsout of the housing on the vehicle, all said drums being driven by; D. asingle motor; E. a framework for carrying and raising the cable whichdraws said sections of the conveyor, said framework being so arranged asto compel said cable to move along its substantially horizontal planeparallel to and spaced apart from the slide channel, and positionedabove it; and F. means for locking the slide carriage in at least one ofthe two end positions of travel thereof.
 2. A conveyor according toclaim 1, wherein the locking means for the slide carriage comprise alever provided for manual operation and adapted to cause said lockingmeans to move upward for engagement with abutting means, and a leversystem controlled by said manually operated lever engaging a pin-platefixed to the rear end of the slidable section of the conveyor so thatthe entire conveyor may be turned through an angle of 90* said tractioncable having an enlarged portion adapted to abut against a restrictedarea formed in combination by two concentric holes, one of said holesbeing arranged in the body of the locking lever and the other into awall supporting said locking lever.
 3. The conveyor of claim 1, furthercomprising a movable pulley adapted to provide swinging movements ofsaid conveyor, said pulley passing a cable for carrying and raising theconveyor to turn thRough angles including 90* .
 4. The conveyor of claim5, including hydraulic jack means interconnected with the outer sectionsof said conveyor whereby its eccentric positioning permits while saidouter sections may be aligned the rotation thereof about an angle of 90*.